Robbie Malneek (born 3 April 1983) is a New Zealand

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player.

Early career

Malneek was born in

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

, but moved with his family to Nelson aged eight. He attended secondary school first at Nayland College, where he played

hooker Hooker may refer to: People * Hooker (surname) Places Antarctica * Mount Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (Antarctica) * Cape Hooker (South Shetland Islands) New Zealand * Hooker River * Mount Hooker (New Zealand) in the Southern Alps * Hoo ...

, and then, from 2000 to 2001, Nelson College, where he moved to the back line and eventually

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

.''Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006'', 6th edition (CD-ROM).

Senior career

He made his provincial debut for Nelson Bays in 2002, and has played for

Tasman Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer. Tasman may also refer to: Animals and plants * Tasman booby * Tasman flax-lily * Tasman parakeet (disambiguation) * Tasman starling * Tasman whale People * Tasman (name), ...

since that union was formed in 2006. He is currently the most capped player in Tasman's short history. He has also had two stints playing in Italy, first with

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons, and then at Reggio in 2012/13. Following the completion of

2014 ITM Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

Malneek travelled to Sri Lanka to play for CR & FC during the 2014/15 season. In the Spring of 2016, Malneek played with

Mystic River Rugby Club The Mystic River Rugby Club, sometimes called Boston Mystic, is a New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) club, founded in 1974, located in Malden, Massachusetts and Melrose, Massachusetts, who field teams in Division 1 American Rugby Premiersh ...

in Boston, Massachusetts in the American Rugby Premiership.

References

1983 births Living people Rugby union players from Masterton People educated at Nayland College People educated at Nelson College New Zealand rugby union players Tasman rugby union players New Zealand expatriate rugby union players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate rugby union players in Italy Rugby union fullbacks New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Sri Lanka Expatriate rugby union players in Sri Lanka Nelson Bays rugby union players Mystic River Rugby players {{NewZealand-rugbyunion-bio-1980s-stub